Caught in a bind - '08 F-150 & Aluma 7818

[nikdfish]

The models I looked at are "no-drill", the chain clip mechanism hangs over the side & is secured by a clamping bolt from the rear (inside the "c" of the beam, 1/4 turn after contact).

In any case, 95% of our planned use is under the 500/5000 lb threshold anyway. Even our heaviest uses should not exceed 600/6000 lb neighborhood so the the issue is mostly one of irritation at both myself for not catching this prepurchase and at the manufacturer for not disclosing this limitation. You'd think they would if they really considered it bad practice, if for no reason than to limit their liability in the event of failures on the road. The lack of written prohibition could be taken as tacit acquiesence to use of WD. It is not even referenced in the warranty info. Their manual considers mine to be a small utility trailer & as such, tongue weight should be in the 6% - 10% range, basically that I should be comfortable towing it loaded to its max cargo limit with 500 lb as the tongue weight (7%).

Nick

 

[jejeosborne]

I actually located a couple of trunnion WD models that would probably work w/out mods (the 30" distance from ball center to chain suspension point is at a wide enough point in the "V" for attachment of the clips to be feasible).

That said, at this point I think we'll just watch our weight & maybe add some 2K Airlift bags to help with any "sag" when the bed is loaded in addition to the trailer until we update either trailer or truck. I appreciate the comments & suggestions.

Nick

I am not an advocate for air bags to correct towing issues but you are left with few options. Just realize that your hitch will still be overloaded and you are not going to gain any valuable weight on your front steering and braking axle. If it were me, I would probably go against the recommendations of the manufacturer and find WD hitch that will work. Worst case you bend something. I don't see a catastrophic failure happening. Good luck.

 

[94BULLITT]

I saw on their website they had a trailer with a normal vee tongue. I wonder I if you can use a WDH on that trailer?

Sent from my GT-P3113 using TractorByNet

 

[schmism]

Ill file this thread in with the other "reasons not to buy an AL trailer.

Sounds like airbags would be your next best option for correcting sag issues/ride issues.

FYI when useing a WD hitch, the tongue weight remains the same. If the hitch can take 900 TW with a WDH, then it can take 900 TW with air bags.

 

[sd455dan]

I am not an advocate for air bags to correct towing issues but you are left with few options. Just realize that your hitch will still be overloaded and you are not going to gain any valuable weight on your front steering and braking axle. If it were me, I would probably go against the recommendations of the manufacturer and find WD hitch that will work. Worst case you bend something. I don't see a catastrophic failure happening. Good luck.

I would worry about (work Hardening) of the aluminum tongue that might occur if changing the design by adding the weight distribution, and wonder if this is a possible reason the manufacturer with reference to this model- is not in favor of weight distributing hitches...??

 

[Reg]

Ill file this thread in with the other "reasons not to buy an AL trailer.

Sounds like airbags would be your next best option for correcting sag issues/ride issues.

FYI when useing a WD hitch, the tongue weight remains the same. If the hitch can take 900 TW with a WDH, then it can take 900 TW with air bags.

a) Maybe file it under reasons to not buy an Aluma trailer ? There is nothing inherently WRONG with Aluminum as a material for building trailers.
b) Sure, the HITCH (receiver and ball mount) can take the 900 lbs., but as I read it the truck can't (shouldn't) according to Ford.
c) I think a pole tongue adapter may still be a possibility if the O/P really wants to go the WDH route.
e.g. Reese Pole-Tongue Adapter for Weight Distribution Systems - 14,000 lbs GTW, 1,400 lbs TW Reese Accessories and Parts RP58393 may be a bit more than is needed, but I built something lighter and simpler myself a long time ago.
It could be worth a conversation with Aluma on the use of such an adapter, e.g. "Hi Aluma, would THIS distribute the stresses adequately ?"
d) As I said earlier Aluma indicated to ME that they know of only one failure where use of a WDH was thought to be partly to blame and that was on a trailer that the owner had "reinforced".
I am GUESSING that they have no data on how many are used with WDHs that have NOT failed. (Absence of a negative not being presence of a positive, etc.)

Of course it is quite POSSIBLE that Aluma are just being uber conservative on this, e.g. the engineers may be saying the safety margin isn't QUITE there.
Some of us know how it feels when we want a minimum factor of 5 where we have 4.9, there is cost pressure and the marketeers are pushing for a "good enough" waiver to release to manufacturing.

 

[jejeosborne]

If the hitch can take 900 TW with a WDH, then it can take 900 TW with air bags.

This is not correct.

A WD hitch torques the tongue load across all the hitch attachment bolts to the truck frame. When not using a WD hitch, only the aft most bolts (usually 2) take the entire tongue weight. Also, the truck frame is usually not as strong at the aft most portion of the truck.

Also note, airbags don't solve the problem of relieving weight off the front axle which is necessary for a majority of braking and all of the steering.

 

[jejeosborne]

I would worry about (work Hardening) of the aluminum tongue that might occur if changing the design by adding the weight distribution, and wonder if this is a possible reason the manufacturer with reference to this model- is not in favor of weight distributing hitches...??

Good point. Work hardening might cause a failure that happens without warning.

 

[dodge man]

Looking at the photos I agree with the maker, I don't think it looks like a WD hitch would be good for it. I own a 3/4 ton truck, and I think my factory Reese style hitch has the same weight limits that your Ford hitch does. The hitch itself isn't made to take anymore weight. This has nothing to do with the trailer, air bags, tow rating of the truck etc.

Like you said in an earlier post, you could step up to a class V hitch, but that doesn't sound like it will work with your bumper. You have a high quality trailer which I'm guessing wasn't cheap. I'd probably just use the thing and not worry about it to much.

 

[Travelover]

It sounds like your problem is when you take both the tractor and the heavier implement. Does the truck capacity allow you to tow the tractor on trailer with the implement in the truck bed?

If not, maybe it makes sense to rent or borrow a trailer with WDH for the odd times you need to exceed the hitch capacity.